1. Field of the Invention
An overhead fluorescent lighting fixture has a central housing enclosing the ballast. The longitudinal axis of the ballast extends perpendicular to cantileverly supported lamps. The lamps are bent so as to have both the electrical end connections on the same end and are attached by way of a lamp holder to the central housing. A plastic translucent and reflective shade assists light control. A grounded metallic reflecting support is secured to the central housing and extends outwardly above and parallel to the lamps to assist lamp start-up and to support the free ends of the lamps and the lamp shades.
2. Description of Related Art
Fluorescent lamps have been popular for most of the 20th Century, since their appearance at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Most lighting fixtures in use are metal boxes recessed within the ceiling, or are mounted to the ceiling surface, or are suspended by way of pipes, chains or cables from the ceiling. Suspended luminaires are routinely supported at both ends. It is standard practice to have these lamps bent into a "U" shape or straight with electrical attachments on opposite ends. The lamps are usually parallel to the ballast that runs alongside, between or above the lamps. Suspended luminaires usually use aluminum extrusions or sheet metal as the framework and have reflector means that run the length of the lamps. These luminaires provide up-light and/or down-light to illuminate both the ceiling above and/or the surfaces below. The opaque metal housings usually cast objectionable dark shadows, particularly so against the lighted ceiling. The use of "U" shape lamps with the electrical connections at the same end, for cantilever type support, is old as shown by R. Benjamin in U.S. Pat. No. 1,965,170, issued Jul. 3, 1934, and D. Davis in U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,418, issued Jun. 20, 1989, and K. Baake in U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,267, issued Sep. 18, 1990. In the past it has been proposed to have the ballast located remotely from the lamps, U.S. Pat. No. 2,305,723, issued Dec. 22, 1942 to J. F. Livers, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,630,520, issued Mar. 3, 1953 to N. J. McDaid; and to have the ballast located near the lamps but in a separate housing, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,531,232, issued Nov. 21, 1950 to S. R. Naysmith, and 3,619,602, issued Nov. 9, 1971 to L. G. Wilde; and that the ballast need not be parallel to the lamps, U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,977, issued Aug. 14, 1973 to R. W. Davis, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,267, issued Sep. 18, 1990 to K. A. Baake; and that a heat sink may be used to dissipate the heat generated by the ballast, U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,267, issued Sep. 1, 1987 to J. Giesberg, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,356, issued Jun. 18, 1991 to M. A. Gawad.